Celebrating Washington’s birthday in a Confederate prison camp

Collingsworth Chronicles
  • FLOYD KILLOUGH
    FLOYD KILLOUGH
  • An original sketch of the Camp Ford stockade, drawn by Col. Duganne, a Union prisoner at the camp. Prisoners eventually built hundreds of structures at the camp from dugouts to cabins. Photos Courtesy of Floyd Killough Collection
    An original sketch of the Camp Ford stockade, drawn by Col. Duganne, a Union prisoner at the camp. Prisoners eventually built hundreds of structures at the camp from dugouts to cabins. Photos Courtesy of Floyd Killough Collection
  • The masthead of The Old Flag, a newspaper produced by a Camp Ford prisoner.
    The masthead of The Old Flag, a newspaper produced by a Camp Ford prisoner.
  • Washington’s birthday celebration article from The Old Flag.
    Washington’s birthday celebration article from The Old Flag.
  • A Birthday Ball announcement published in The Old Flag.
    A Birthday Ball announcement published in The Old Flag.

    Just off Hwy 271, less than a mile northeast of the loop in Tyler, visitors will find a public park and Texas Historical Marker near the former location of Camp Ford, the largest Confederate Prisoner of War (POW) camp west of the Mississippi River. Established in the middle of the Civil War, approximately 6,000 prisoners passed through the camp between 1863 and 1865. Union soldiers representing ne…